N.J. charges 8 merchants with gouging after Sandy

This post has
10
Replies |
4
Followers

The defendants face fines of up to $10,000 for their first offenses and $10,000 for subsequent offenses. Each sale is considered a separate offense. Prosecutors estimate that the gas station charging $5.50 for regular-grade gas made 230 sales on Nov.1, when the state of emergency was in effect.

I would rather pay 8$ a gallon and wait on a 10 minute line than pay 4.50$ a gallon and wait a on a 5 hour line. But yeah, this is the society we live in. I had a few coworkers tell me that they were offended by all of the people driving around 'wasting gas' shopping.

"If we wish to preserve a free society, it is
essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular
object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion."

The members of the N.J government. I was thinking about saying "my fellow Americans", but I refuse to draw the association between myself and people who could possibly do this.

Their crime is not in wanting to help citizens and keep prices low, even if that is their true intent. Nor is that they have restricted voluntary behavior, for perhaps keeping people warm and keeping their houses heated in early winter there is a justification for that. What makes them monsters is that they will restrict voluntary interactions whilst they assume a position of power over others while they claim to help citizens, while they do exactly opposite when all it would take would be to pick up an economics textbook to find out they were wrong.

That is unforgivable in my eyes.

At last those coming came and they never looked back
With blinding stars in their eyes but all they saw was black...

Does anyone think that these press conferences will ever upgrade to using a projector?

To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process.
Rabbi Lapin: "Let's make bricks!"
Stephan Kinsella: "Say you and I both want to make a German chocolate cake."

This is yet another application of the "excessive legislation" problem presented by Professor Cleveland.

So New Jersey authorities are going after one single case and will hit the defendants with very stiff fines that will likely bankrupt them. But what about the chaps selling canned food out of the back of their trucks at "exorbitant" prices? Shouldn't they be punished as well? What about all the other cases of "price gouging"?

The reasons are two.

First is energy is one of those sectors no government in the world will let go no matter what. As a local service station owner said "I work for the government 80% of the time". You attempt to apply supply and demand to that sector and you are dead. Our wise overlords know better that the useless market forces.

Second, and much more critical, is when you attempt to enforce too many laws, the rate of violation/enforcement will drastically decline. This applies to totalitarian regimes as well. The death penalty doesn't deter drug dealers from operating in Iran or currency smugglers from operating in North Korea because they know the chances of being arrested are very low indeed. In this situation enforcement becomes based not around the "penalty proportionate to the violation" principle but about "let's make an example out of this chap".

The major oil companies price their gas using Brent crude as their benchmark instead of West Texas Int. Brent is sold on European markets and has been staying 10% or more higher than WTI which is the oil purchased for use in domestic markets.Not that I'm in favor of price controls on any level they sure are quick to crack down on Ma and Pa.

The members of the N.J government. I was thinking about saying "my fellow Americans", but I refuse to draw the association between myself and people who could possibly do this.

Their crime is not in wanting to help citizens and keep prices low, even if that is their true intent. Nor is that they have restricted voluntary behavior, for perhaps keeping people warm and keeping their houses heated in early winter there is a justification for that. What makes them monsters is that they will restrict voluntary interactions whilst they assume a position of power over others while they claim to help citizens, while they do exactly opposite when all it would take would be to pick up an economics textbook to find out they were wrong.

That is unforgivable in my eyes.

I agree, their fat bastard governor is obnoxious. I can't stand their socialist attacks on private property.